Dining Out: 'It's a family thing' at Cedar Bucket

Home-style cooking keeps customers loyal

Jan. 22, 2013

This plate lunch from Cedar Bucket Cafe in Murfreesboro includes a grilled pork chop, turnip greens, cornbread and mashed potatoes and gravy. An assortment of desserts are on the counter behind the plate lunch. / HELEN COMER/DNJ

The name of the restaurant was taken from the Cedar Bowl Classic, a football match between Holloway High School and Bedford County Training School. The winner of that game took home a cedar bucket as a trophy.

Owner Ricky Turner hoped the Cedar Bucket Cafeteria would create a connection between his roots in Murfreesboro and the first location of the restaurant, Shelbyville. After a couple of years, he returned home, opening a Cedar Bucket location on Middle Tennessee Boulevard. Yet after some growth — a good thing for any business owner — Turner made a final move to Lascassas Pike.

But you won’t find him preparing the day’s offerings.

“Ricky, he’s not a cook. He has great ideas, but he’s not much for cooking,” said Kathleen Turner, Ricky’s mother, who helps out at the restaurant.

Turner, along with his mother, wife, brother and even his own two daughters, work at the restaurant.

“It’s a family thing,” said Kathleen. “Everybody helps out. But we have others, too, who are here cooking.”

Of course, after a few years of working with the Turner bunch, the cooks are much like family as well.

The locations may have changed, but the Turner family’s dedication to serving hearty, home-style meals with fellowship and great service has remained constant. It’s a recipe that has yielded a loyal customer base.

“I don’t get to come but every so often, but I really enjoy the cooking,” said recent diner Edith Richardson, who had filled her plate with white beans, green beans and cornbread.

On the menu: Each day has its own specific menu. Get fried chicken on Sunday or meatloaf on Wednesday, barbecue ribs on Thursday and fried fish on Friday.

Choose from at least three meats each day, including country fried steak, salmon patties, pork chops, liver and onions and more. Then you can choose from at least six different sides. Sides could include turnip greens, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, okra, sweet potatoes, green beans, lima beans, cabbage or coleslaw.

Complement your meal with cornbread hoecakes or rolls, and then finish it off with a slice of pie or cake.

What's the cost: A meat-and-vegetable plate is $5, and you can add a drink for $1 more. Make it two veggies and it’s $7. Get a meat and two veggies with a drink for $8, or get the meal and drink with three side items for $10.

A three-vegetable plate is $5, and it’s $6 if you add one more. Add bread to any dish for 85-cents. Dessert is $1.50 a slice.

What to know: Not only can you dine-in or carry-out some home-style goodness, the Cedar Bucket provides private dining and catering. Call for details.